A U.S. rights group says an Iranian-American Christian priest was sentenced on January 27 to eight years in jail for his religious activities.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said pastor Saeed Abedini, who had been detained in Iran since September, was found guilty of "threatening the national security of Iran" by promoting Christian house churches.

The ACLJ reports that the evidence presented in court was based on Abedini’s activities primarily during the early 2000s, when Iran, under then-President Mohammad Khatami, did not consider house churches a threat.